Did You Know Gaming covers the history of the SNES CD-ROM
When it comes to the videogame industry, Nintendo might be the most interesting company to study. They have had such a wildly successful run of things that continues to this very day, and they’ve managed their history run due to all sorts of zigs and zags that no one ever saw coming. Sometimes Nintendo was so unpredictable that they even blindsided potential partners, and that very much applies to Sony.
There are a handful of moments in Nintendo history where things went incredibly wrong for the company…at least at first. When you look back at projects like the Virtual Boy and Wii U, you might first think of them as failures, but without those missteps we wouldn’t have seen successes like the 3DS and Switch. That same line of thinking could be applied to the potential partnership between Sony and Nintendo back on the SNES, but perhaps on a scale we haven’t seen since.
Diehard Nintendo fans know that Sony and Nintendo almost worked together for a CD-ROM add-on for the SNES that would have been called the SNES PlayStation. In the 11th hour Nintendo got cold feet and pivoted to a deal with Phillips, which could certainly be considered the Big N’s greatest fumble. Not partnering with Sony for the SNES add-on caused Sony to release the PlayStation, which has becoming one of the game industry’s biggest juggernauts.
It’s easy to look back on Nintendo’s cold shoulder to Sony as a huge mistake unlike many other in the industry, but it’s that pivot that also pushed Nintendo into different areas of gaming. Arguably, some would say Nintendo’s grandest achievements may have been spurred on by moving away from Sony. Nevertheless, whether you see the move as a good or bad one, there’s no denying it was hugely influential on the industry as a whole.
Want to learn more about the SNES CD-ROM that never saw release? Did You Know Gaming has put together a mammoth feature that shares pretty much all there is to know about the almost-partnership and then some. Give it a watch and settle in for 40+ minutes of Nintendo history that any dedicated fan will no doubt be enthralled by.
